7 things to do at Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival with kids

The Epcot Flower and Garden Festival is in full swing, and the park looks stunning! With gorgeous gardens, spectacular topiaries, food and drinks and so much more, there is something for the whole family to enjoy. I took my 4-year old, Harrison, to the festival today to see what there was for kids to do, and we came away with some great suggestions. If you’re planning to visit the Flower and Garden Festival with kids, then take a look through my list of things to do to keep the little ones entertained.

1. The topiaries

When you enter Epcot, pick up a festival passport. This has all of the information you will need to enjoy the festival, including menus for the food booths, garden locations, and a list of the incredible topiaries. There are 23 topiaries at this years festival and 2017 sees some new additions: Figment over by Spaceship Earth and Cruz from Cars 3 over at the ‘Road to the Florida 500’ garden. The detail that goes into the topiaries is incredible, and Harrison could not get enough of them! His personal favorite was Lightning McQueen, but I fell in love with Bambi, Thumper, and Flower in the Canada Pavilion. See if you can spot all of the 23 topiaries around the festival.

2. The playgrounds

There are two playgrounds as part of the festival, and they are awesome. Does anyone else think Disney parks should have more playgrounds?! They are such an easy way to keep kids busy and entertained! The largest playground, the Imagination Play Garden, is on the walkway between the World Showcase and Future World West, and has a smaller area for younger guests, as well as a bigger play net for older kids. There are also some really fun places to explore, with a little enclosed garden area in the middle that is perfect for toddlers and younger children. The surface is a fake turf, so nice and soft for trips and falls, and there is seating available for those watching the little ones to relax! Another playground is the desert-themed Road to the Florida 500 over towards Test Track, where the Lightning McQueen and Cruz topiaries can be found. This playground is smaller, and more suited to younger kids. It features a small covered jungle gym, and the flower beds are dotted with auto parts – this playground also has the fake turf surface. The playgrounds definitely got busier as the day went on, and were much more crowded on our weekend visits, so if you want to give your kids as much space to play as possible, go early!

3. The scavenger hunts

If you’ve visited Epcot during other festivals, you might be familiar with the scavenger hunts they have set up for kids over the last couple of years. This year, the Flower and Garden Festival has two scavenger hunts: the Egg-stravaganza and Spikes Pollen Nation Exploration. They are essentially the same concept, where you can search for hidden clues (either eggs themed to Walt Disney World characters or flowers featuring Spike the honey bee), and record your findings by placing stickers on a map. The maps are available for purchase for $5.99 (plus tax) from a variety of merchandise locations, and when the map is complete, it can be turned in to Disney Traders for a special surprise. Harrison absolutely loved the similar Figment-themed hunt during the Festival of the Arts, and the surprise at the end was actually pretty cool. You don’t even need to complete the map accurately to the get the surprise, so no pressure on little kids to actually find every clue! This is a great way to keep kids occupied as you explore the festival. Spikes Pollen Nation Exploration is available from February 28th through May 28th, and the Egg-stravaganza is available from March 16th through April 1st.

4. The food

Does anyone else just go to these Epcot festivals for the food?! I love that all of the Epcot festivals feature food booths now, especially since they are so well suited to the particular festival going on at the time. This year, the Flower and Garden features food booths with an emphasis on fresh ingredients and spring flavors, and there are 15 food booths in total, including a new booth, the Honey Bee-stro. Many of the options are kid-friendly, especially the delicious desserts, and the alcoholic frozen drinks all come in non-alcoholic varieties. There is actually a guide in the festival passport that highlights some of the more kid-friendly options, as well as highlighting the vegetarian and vegan choices. Some of our favorites included the Pineapple Soft-Serve Ice Cream at the Pineapple Promenade, the La Vie en Rose frozen slush from Fleur de Lys in France, and the Shrimp and Grits from Florida Fresh.

5. The merchandise

This year’s merchandise is absolutely adorable! There are the usual t-shirts, mugs, and tumblers available, as well as some more unique garden-themed merchandise and products. The print on the tumblers and Christmas ornaments is so cute, and I loved the flower pot shaped mugs. Harrison’s favorite was a flower and garden themed Duffy bear, but we also loved the kid-sized watering cans and garden tools they had for sale.

6. Butterflies on the go garden

This is one of our favorite spots year after year. The butterfly garden is located in Future World, and houses a number of species of butterfly. The garden is enclosed, with mesh chains covering the entrance and exits so the butterflies can’t escape. The butterflies really do fly everywhere, we even saw them land on a few people! There is an interactive display for kids with more information on butterflies, and Harrison loved seeing them up close. We talked about how butterflies grow from caterpillars, and there were Cast Members on hand to answer any questions we had. The garden is sponsored by GoGo SqueeZ and when we exited the garden, they were handing out free pouches of applesauce! This alone made this one of Harrison’s favorite spots!

7. The flowers!

Despite some of the other features of the festival stealing focus a little, flowers are still the main attraction here. The flowers really do look beautiful in the Florida sun, and I love that there is such a focus on educating people about gardening, and what they can do on their own. We loved the Backyard Habitat garden, where a Cast Member showed Harrison what he could plant and grow in his own backyard, and he came home inspired and excited to start growing things for himself.

For more information, visit the festival’s official website.

If you enjoyed the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival with kids, then it’s worth exploring the Epcot Festival of the Arts.

Are you planning to visit the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival this year? What are you most excited for? Let me know in the comments!